Article holder



M. WEINBERGER ARTICLE HOLDER Filed Feb. 2

May 12, 1953 IN V EN TOR M0111; Vein Zezyez:

A TTORIVEX Patented May 12 1953 TENT orrics ARTICLE 110mm MorrisWeinberger, New York, N. Y.,assign'or of one-half to Dora M. Klein,Cedarhurst, N. Y.

' Application February2y1950, Serial No..141,901

4 Claims; (Cl. 248-126) This invention relates'to articleholders such asdisclosed. in pending application Serial No. 767,674, filed August 9,1947, now Patent No. 2,505,075, for Adjustable Article Stand. I

The present invention is an improvement over the above-identifieddisclosure and has for its principal object to provide an articleholding device which is simpler in construction and therefore much lessexpensive, yet even more effective and practical, and which device isadapted for securely gripping an article, such as a flashlight, withinits frame, and wherein such article may be swung to any desired positionin respect to the frame, and wherein the article holding'device is.provided with resilient blades, normally reposin'g within the frame, butwhich are swingable outwardly from the frame to" form, togetherwith aportion of the frama'a substantial supporting base for both the deviceand the article held by it.

A more specific object of this invention is the provision of an articleholder in the form of a substantially U-shaped frame having at its openend a resilient article clip which connects the free ends of the framelegs and which clip is rotatably mounted between them, and whereinfriction. elements are interposed between the clip and the frame legs atthe pivotal point of the clip so as to restrain the movement of the clipin respect to the frame, and wherein apair of resilient, permanentlybent blades arepivotally associated with the bottom ends of the framelegs, with friction elements interposed between the legs and the bladesto hold thelatter 'at any desired position in respect to. the frame, andwhich blades are adaptedwhen swung outwardly from the frame, to assumeangular positions in respect to the frame, thus providing,in'combination with portions of the frame; a three-point supporting basefor the latter.

A further object of this invention is to provide in such frame, meansfor facilitating suspension of the frame both at its closed end as wellas along at least one of its legs.

Still another object is the provision of a com bination article holderand support or bracket therefore, and wherein said holder comprises asubstantially U-shaped frame, at least One of the frame legs havingspaced apertures with large and reduced ends, and wherein the support orbracket includes a clip for detachably securing it to an existing fixedobject, and from which clip depends an arm from'which extend spaced,headed rivets, theheads' of the rivets being adapted to'be passedthrough the large ends of the apertures provided in the holder leg,while the shanks of the rivets are intendedto pass into the reduced-endsof the apertures and wherein the article holder i equipped'with'permanently bent,

resilient blades pivotally associated With one of their ends to the legsof the holder, and-whereinat least one of the blades is adapted tocooperate with one of the apertures and with the corresponding head ofthe rivet passed through the aperture and projecting into the interiorof the holder, and whereby that blade prevents, by pressing against therivet head, the unintentional disassociation of the holder from thesupport or bracket.

. The foregoing and numerous other objects and important advantages ofthe present invention will become more readily apparent from the ensuingdescription in connection with the accompanying drawings, and wherein:

Fig. 1 illustrates a combination article holder and support or brackettherefore, in accordance with the present invention;

ig. 2 is a top. view of the detachable bracket;

Fig. 3 is an and elevation thereof, partly in section;

Fig. 4 is an end View of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a top view of an article holder such as illustrated in Figs. 1and 6;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged side elevation of the holder illustrated in Fig. 1

Fig. '7 is a front view thereof;

Fig; 8 illustrates a modified form of a holder in use, being suspendedfrom a wall or the like;

Fig. 9 illustrates a holder in use resting on a fixed support; and

Fig. 10 is a section taken on line Ill-4G of Fig. 9.

In the drawings, numeral lil generally denotes the article holder, whichcomprises a substantially U-shaped frame, made preferably of stripmaterial, and which frame has a closed end portion 1 l and two spacedlegs [2. Between the free ends of legs I2 is arranged a resilientarticle gripping clip I3, which is rotatably mounted at it. Between theclip and legs l2 there will b seen friction elements it in the form ofspring washers which are adapted to restrict voluntary movement of clipI3 in respect to the frame so that an article held in the clip may beswung to and automatically retained in any desired position.

F Pivotally associated at It with the lower ends of legs 12, adjacent toclosed end H of the frame, are spring blades I? which are bent andpermanently set to the. shape as shown in Fig. 101 Between th pivotedends of these blades and. legs l2 there are again provided frictionelements. 15, adapted to facilitate the positioning and the retention ofthe blades at any desired relation in respect to the frame. These.blades normally ongage the interior surfaces of the legs under tensionso that their body portions between their ends normally project into theframe interior.

Thus when an article, such as a flashlight, is held by clip l3 and isforced into the frame, blades I! become compressed against legs l2 andwill tensionally engage the body of the flashlight, thus retaining it infixed position within the frame. With the flashlight thus held in theframe, it may be readily carried about or placed into a pocket, bag orcompartment without unduly taking up too much space beyond the spacenormally occupied by the flashlight itself.

When the blades are swung outwardly from the frame, in the mannerindicated in Figs. 8, 9 and 10, these blades assume a distinct angularposition in respect to the frame, thus providing, together with theclosed end of the frame, a very substantial and secure, so-to-speakthree-point supporting base for both the frame and the article heldtherein, in that the edge portions of the blades and frame end H touchtheir supporting surface at three, relatively widely spaced lines orpoints.

As clearly shown in Figs. 1, 5 and 7, the closed end of the frame isprovided with a hanger l8 which is pivoted at 19 and which is normallypositioned within the frame as it rests against frame end H, but whichhanger may be swung out, as shown in broken lines in Fig. 5 and in fullline in Fig. 8, for engagement with a nail or hook, in which case bladesI! are preferably swung downwardly against the vertical support fromwhich the nail extends.

In addition to the facility for suspending frame H) from a wall, it maybe also detachably suspended from a bracket in the manner illustrated inFig. 1. That bracket, shown in detail in Figs. 2, 3 and 4, is indicatedat 2B, and comprises a clip 2| which may be attached by means of bolt 22to an existing object, such as a steering column 23 of an automobile,indicated in dotted lines in Figs. 1 and 2. Depending from clip 20 is anarm 24 from which extend rivets 25 with their heads 26 spaced from thearm so that the shanks of the rivets are free.

Corresponding to the spacing of rivets 25, there are provided in one ofth frame legs apertures 27, as clearly seen in Fig. 6. These aperturesare large at their lower end and relatively narrow at their upper end tofacilitate the insertion of heads 26 and the passage of the rivet shanksinto the narrow ends of the apertures. Thus the rivet shanks suspend theframe and heads 26 prevent the disengagement of the holder from thebracket.

As illustrated in Fig. 1, the left blade I! cooperates with the upperperforation and with the head of the upper rivet. Since the blade isresilient, it tensionall engages the rivet and thus forces frame itagainst the undersurface of the rivet head, thereby minimizing thepossibility of an unintentional disengagement of the frame from thebracket.

Obviously, either one or both frame legs may be equipped withapertures'ZI, and by the same token these apertures may be omitted, asshown in Fig. 8 when the holder is not intended for suspension from abracket.

While in the drawings specific forms of the device are illustrated, itis quite obvious that when the holder is to be used for different sizesof flashlights or for holding other articles, its construction may haveto be altered, such alterations being deemed to reside within the scopeand intent of the present invention, as defined in the annexed claims.

What is claimed as new is:

1. In an article holder, a substantially U- shaped, one-piece holderframe, closed at one end and having legs extending from that closed end,a pair of individually operable, bent spring blades pivotally associatedat one of their ends with the leg ends adjacent the closed end of theframe, said blades, while within the frame, normally engaging with theirfree ends the interior faces of the legs so that their bent bodyportions between their ends extend toward one another, said blades beingadapted, when swung out of the frame, to assume with their major bodyportions such divergent angular positions in respect to the frame sothat wide-spread points of support for the frame are provided as theedges of the bent blades and the closed end of the frame come to'restupon a supporting surface.

2. In an article holder, a substantially U- shaped, one-piece frame,closed at one end, composed of a fixed connecting portion and a pair oflegs extending therefrom, a resilient article clip at the free ends ofand connecting the frame legs and being rotatably but frictionally heldbetween them, a pair of individual and independent resilient bladesrotatably associated at one of their ends with the fixed ends of thelegs adjacent said frame connecting portion and being in frictionalengagement with the legs, said blades being so bent that their free endsnormally engage the interior faces of the frame legs and their bowedportions tensionally bear against an article held in the holder andbeing adapted, when swung out of the holder, to serve as divergingsupport elements for the latter, and means provided with the holder forfacilitating its suspension.

3. In an article holder, a substantially U- shaped, one-piece resilientframe comprising two spaced legs and a fixed spacing and connectingportion for and forming a continuation of the fixed ends of the legs andconstituting the closed end of the frame, a resilient article-grippingclip rotatably but frictionally held between the free ends of the legs,a pair of independent, individual- 1y operable spring blades pivotallybut frictionally secured with one of their ends to the fixed ends of thelegs adjacent said fixed leg-spacing and leg-connecting portion of theframe, said blades being bowed and permanently set to retain their bowedshapes so that when they are swung out from the frame they will assume adistinct angular position in respect to the frame, and when swung intothe frame, their bowed portions will project into the frame interior.

4. In an article holder according to claim 3, at least one of the legshaving means for accommodating suspension means for the holder, one ofthe spring blades associated with said one leg being adapted, when heldwithin the frame, to

tensionally bear against said accommodating means.

MORRIS WEINBERGER.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 673,430 Flanders May 7, 1901 1,304,787 MacNeale May 27, 19191,621,645 Thorp Mar. 22, 1927 1,869,226 Subick July 26, 1932 2,015,795Greene et a1. Oct. 1, 1935 2,156,025 Paul Nov. 23, 1937 2,247,131Muldoon June 24, 1941

